Title: The Black Tattoo
Author: SilverWing147
Part: 8/?
Rating: PG
Warning: AU, BL
Pairing: eventual YYxY, YxA, other pairings yet to be realised.
Summary: He didn't know when it came, or where from, but he'd been cursed with a mark on his back. A tattoo of a pyramid with an Egyptian eye, a black tattoo. What some people call a hero, and others a menace, emerges under the name of The Black Raven, and Yuugi's life has never been more complicated.
A/N: Only one or two more chapters to go, making this the shortest story with chapters I've ever "published". I'm really sorry for the huge delay but there some massive re-writes and life hassles.
Ch8. Water Over the Bridge
White.
While naturally people assume it to be of a nice and welcoming nature, a colour of peace, at times it's cold and barren. This is not always the case. It was everywhere, this... this white. He could taste it on his tongue, see it, smell it, feel it, hear it. White. It was scary. What had happened to him?
Where was Yami?
"Ryou! Ryou!"
It had been just under half an hour since they'd arrived at Ryou's house. At first there had been confusion, they just walked in, no secrecy, but seeing Ryou tied in a corner was the answer to that confusion. They'd been here first. Captured Ryou and Bakura already, except where was Bakura?
She didn't really expect Ryou to answer as he was gagged as well as tied, but he saw her and his eyes went frantic, desperately trying to tell her something, exclaim in horror, surprise or yell at her captives. Something.
"Now if you're not quiet, you'll end up like little Rykin's here." One of the Reapers sneered into her ear before tossing her down next to her tied friend. Honda was dumped next to her; his unconscious form slumped against the wall, head hanging lifeless from his shoulders. He had a gash over his eye and she knew he was bleeding in a few places. It wasn't good, for any of them.
She hadn't seen Yuugi since they'd gone to bed and Jounouchi was still unconscious at the house. On the plus side at least they found Ryou. But where on earth was Bakura? There's no way he'd let anyone kidnap Ryou without putting up a fight... she bit her lip as a dreaded thought swept across her mind. What if they'd killed him?
The Reapers exited the room, slamming the door shut behind them, leaving them completely bound in the dark. Light still shone in from the street lamp outside, filtering in through the gaps in the blinds, enough that she could see the rest of the room.
She was helpless. She hated that. She couldn't even help Honda or remove the gag from Ryou's mouth, she could barely move in these ropes. They were probably magicked with shadows or something.
What was going on here? She took a deep breath, steeling herself. She just had to be patient; Yuugi would come soon and help them... if Yuugi was okay still. Who knows what they did to him while they were downstairs.
It was so quiet you could hear the breeze murmuring through the leaves. You could hear the hushed voices of shadow reapers too buzzed on adrenaline to remain silent. Light was flooding out from the lounge room windows and spilling onto the street. His whole body was tensed with what was to come.
They had made sure to mention them coming here when the blonde guy was there to hear them, the Black Raven was sure to be on his way, and he couldn't let him get the jump on them. Tatsuki hadn't come back yet, so there was little doubt that the Black Raven had conquered him as he had every other reaper. But the boss would get him.
He tried to suppress the chill that ran down his spine. Their leader was so strong it was terrifying, and providing him with those innocent light-filled people, had only increased his power. His eyes were always dark with a sort of madness, and he seemed constantly filled to the brim with shadows. It was unnerving just to be around him.
He sighed. The rest of the Reapers were hungry for some of that shadow. He himself was just curious, not to mention too afraid to disobey.
Suddenly something sparked along his senses. His shadows, which had been spread to alert him of the area surrounding the house, recoiled. He flinched; they felt as though they were being burnt. They cringed away from whatever it was causing this reaction, shrieking in dislike and retreating back.
"What the..." His shadows had never done this before. A wave of power washed over him; nauseating, and strong enough to make his teeth ache.
"Guys!" He called back into the house, taking up a bracing stance in response to the threat. Fear quivered in him at the feeling of the being getting closer to the house. Speeding closer.
His eyes strained to see what suddenly became clear. Wings as dark as the bottom of a well in the middle of a moonless night, black and wickedly curved tattoo's laced with golden and purple veins, the gold so bright it was practically white. Terror washed over him, and briefly timed stopped as he was suddenly face to terrifying face with the Black Raven. There were wicked tattoo's stretching up his neck, his eyes were a hauntingly blank white. No iris, no pupil, just as white as the centre of a star, frightening and foreign.
He gasped in shock and fear, instinctively raising shadows to shield, but was too slow. He was suddenly flying from the patio, pushed away only with the air from those powerful wings. His head cracked to the pavement and it all faded away to black, mind still blank with the horror of that sightless gaze.
He'd always heard the Raven had narrow red eyes; this was far more frightening than he'd ever envisioned those red eyes to be.
She'd heard the thud resonate through the house. It happened in a breath. The door bursting open and every single Shadow Reaper pausing to turn as though stuck in slow motion, towards the door. In the next breath they were being hurtled back, shock plastered to their faces. The next breath and more were flying, hitting the wall with a sickening crack or thud. In the last breath the room was still.
Her heart pounded like it wanted to escape her chest, mad with the desire to flee her body because she was sure her body was in some sort of mortal danger. There was a choking kind of feeling in the air. Suddenly it felt like the very shadows created by the clothes on her body and the fall of the light, were growing heavier, as though wet. She glanced around to Ryou. His eyes were wide and unblinking as he stared in fear at the doorway.
A saviour or something worse?
Her breath stilled as she watched the doorway intently, ears straining to hear footsteps. Closer. Closer. Closer and closer and...
She let out a gasp. "Yuugi!"
He was covered in the tattoo's she associated with the Black Raven, his eyes terrifyingly white and sightless. His hair was entirely black; none of the blonde that was usually hanging around his face was present. His mouth, usually soft and smiling was set in a hard and hate filled fine, brow furrowed into a terrible expression of pain, anger, and vindictiveness.
It was scary.
"Y-Yuugi?" Her voice quivered fearfully.
He looked at her. She felt small and her fear increased under that penetrating gaze. He took a deliberate step forward, face hard and unchanged. She quivered.
As he came closer the tension in the room seemed to multiply endlessly, until finally it was broken by a laugh. The voice was rough, slightly gravelly, and painfully familiar.
Ryou's eyes widened spotting the man leaning in the doorway, cringing back against the wall as much as his bonds would allow him to. Anzu's eyes tore away from Yuugi to stare at the man, gasping in shock as her heart panged with hope. Even yuugi turned slowly to gaze at him, expression unchanged.
"Ba-Bakura! Come untie us quick!" She yelled, looking over at him in hope. She froze as he smiled and shook his head.
"Why would I untie my own captive?" He jeered.
"W-What?" Disbelief settled in.
"Tch, look Ryousie's not begging for a hand, he knows. Follow the example sweet heart; I have business to discuss with my good friend here." He said, turning to Yuugi and looking him over with a critical eye. "Hmm, it feels like he's almost out, just need a little more of a push, eh?"
Her heart filled with dread, lurching as Bakura walked towards her, a wicked smile on his face. Yuugi watched, suspicious and angry as Bakura picked Anzu up, using his shadows to smartly break the rope tying her feet and legs. She tried to push away from him but it felt like he was a million times stronger than she was. Ryou gave a muffled yell from his place just beside her.
"Yuugi!" Bakura called. "Watch." He demanded.
She struggled, even if it was a futile attempt. He gripped her by her hair, pulling her head back, bearing her throat. She swallowed hard, breathing fast, heart pounding. He reached around her neck, finding the necklace that Yuugi had given her. She tried to struggle again but a sharp pull to her hair stilled her. The chain bit into her skin as he roughly pulled it, in one quick motion snapping the chain.
"Is it not funny how she still wears it Yuugi? She doesn't covet you, but does covet the items you give her. I saw her you know, staring after the Black Raven like some love sick girl, all the while she still had you. How very greedy, wouldn't you say?" Bakura sneered. "How cruel of her, wearing this reminder, should we punish her?" A wicked smile.
Anuz's eyes grew tearful with helpless fear. What could she do? She was captive to a man they all assumed to be a friend, Yuugi wasn't even Yuugi anymore, and Honda was still unconscious. No one could help her, she couldn't even help herself. Desperate fear, petrified, tears slid from her eyes, she whimpered at the sting in the back of her scalp from the pull of her hair, terror from the suggestion of punishment making her tremble.
He laughed, a cruel sound as he tossed her back to the wall. Her head cracking painfully and she slid to the floor in a heap. He was so strong. He still dangled her necklace from his fingers in taunt.
"Yuugi!" She cried out.
Yuugi growled, an inhuman sound escaping his throat.
"What will you do now Mutou Yuugi?" Bakura goaded. "I've hurt all your friends; not to mention poor Ryousie here hasn't eaten in days. Have you Ryousie?" He said, using the pet name constantly, smiling at Ryou's cringe.
For the first time since the terrible transformation, Yuugi spoke; his once gentle tones were now spiked with malicious glee and venomous hatred. "I'm going to kill you." He whispered. "I hate you, I'm going to kill you."
Bakura smiled. "That's it."
A scream tore Yuugi throat, blinding pain erupting from in his body. It felt as though something in his chest was being dislodged, sliding through the muscle with that sickening feeling of choking on it, like when you swallowed something whole. It was large and painful, moving towards his spine, towards the tattoo. He heard a scream, his own? Pain. More shadows flocked him, more light, it burnt everywhere. So white.
"Yuugi!" He screamed.
He knew it was useless to scream out for his bearer like this, but he couldn't control it. His container was shifting. Moving towards the tattoo as the shadows started to fill Yuugi's chest, forcing his container away.
He could feel Yuugi's anger, pain, sorrow, confusion, that tremor of jealousy, the sparkle of love that was being doused by all these negative emotions rushing and enhanced by shadows. His container lurched, and he screamed as his side made contact with a wall, spiritual flesh burning. It hurt even more because the skin was already prickling and blue with cold. This was torture. Far worse than what he'd endured merely existing in the shadows.
He cried out again as the container rocked, he could only buffet himself so much using his magic, the pain and confusion was coursing through even the shadows. It was a toll on even his mind to focus the shadows on one goal. They were running rampant! He could even feel the ones within his own spiritual body stirring in reaction to the turbulence of his bearer.
"Yuugi!" The scream was almost involuntary. Ripping free with every new injury.
His eyes shot open and were instantly assaulted by blinding light. He cried out once more in pain, the light burning his eyes. He quickly shut them, covering them with one frozen and singed arm.
"Please!" He begged with the walls, the shadows, and the small dot of awareness of Yuugi's mind he had. "Yuugi! If thou can hear me, please I promise all will be well! I promise! Thou need not be divided!"
He pulled himself closer, tucking arms and legs in, wings still bursting to full extent, straining painfully so that it was hard to keep concentration. If Yuugi didn't calm down soon, he was going to be expelled into the tattoo and Yuugi would be completely and utterly vulnerable and alone in his feelings.
"Bearer!" He called again. "Yuugi!"
He didn't want to be expelled, he didn't want this, for as much as he tried to believe that Yuugi needed him more than anything else, that Yuugi needed him to defend him constantly, that Yuugi needed him to protect and watch over him, that, that... that Yuugi wanted him, and needed him to be there. In all honesty, it was the other way around. Yuugi was his bearer, but Yuugi didn't truly need him. He coveted Yuugi, wanted him, and he never wanted his time as being part of Yuugi to end. He needed Yuugi, to be strong, and bright and, and, Yuugi. He needed Yuugi to be Yuugi. He'd felt him grow, and then he'd had the chance to watch him, and then to talk to him, to feel the sweet brush of his mind, the tremble in his heart with the fear of a nightmare, the soft gratitude when he protected them without murder. He relished every inch of Yuugi.
"Yuugi! Yuugi please... I need you!"
He lunged forward, lashing out in pain and anger. Bakura was flung back, shock barely registering on his face before he was flung into the wall and lashed at with shadows. This wasn't the plan. Everything was skewed.
"Yuugi!" Anzu cried again, heart clenching as Yuugi roared, eyes glowing, face pale and tattoo's darker than nothingness, everything twisted in a mask of pain. "Yuugi please!" She cried.
'Yuugi!' A voice from that painful moving thing in his chest. Yami? 'Yuugi please...I need you!'
Yami?
Exhaustion swept over him in waves. What was he... what was he doing. He lashed out at Bakura again sending him flying to the other end of the room, while he tried to block feeble, still shocked with the drastic error in his plan. It wasn't supposed to happen this way!
What was, 'Yuugi!' The scream was pain filled and terrified. What was going on? He... It felt like he was floating in white, but there were grey blotches, blooming sounds. Anzu, she was in danger. Anger swelled, supernaturally swift and powerful. No. He wasn't... he wasn't this! No more of this.
He hurt everywhere. The movement in his chest stopped, the dislodged piece sliding back to the empty cavity it had always occupied. There was a humming in his head. He could hear them now. He couldn't before, he only listened, didn't hear. The shadows were screaming, all fuelled with his pain, but he wasn't a slave to this. He wasn't... he wasn't violent and careless...he wasn't anything like this, he wasn't... he wasn't. He was Yuugi...wasn't he? The bearer of the Black Tattoo, a curse and a blessing. He was Yami's bearer, he was... Yuugi.
"Yuugi what's this mark?"
"What mark grandpa?" the young boy said pausing in putting his shirt on, worried when the old man stared intently at his back, frowning. "Grandpa?"
The old man stared his fingers tracing over edge of what appeared to be a black tattoo, eyes wide with horror. There on his grandsons back was the shape of a pyramid, a tribal Egyptian eye staring at him from its centre. It seemed to radiate energy as he continued to stare. No… it couldn't be.
He wasn't a slave to a dark mark on his back. He wasn't. He wasn't a puppet to Yami, he was an equal.
He could overcome this.
He screamed. The sound filling every pore, resonating in his chest, and he fought back. Shadows, light, dark, pain and all. He wasn't this, he was Yuugi Mutou.
'Yuugi.' The voice a cool breath over his overly heated form. He could still hear the whisper of pain in Yami's voice.
'I'm sorry, Yami.' He said exhausted. His body collapsing, eyes closing and soul retreating back to the cool puff of air and smooth warmth that was Yami.
"No! I don't want to hurt you! I want Mars! Mars, you undead bastard! Stop hiding in your host so I can finally kill you!" Bakura screamed, sputtering, wiping blood from his lip as he staggered to his feet.
"Yuugi." Anzu cried out. The marks on her friends body were fading to something not nearly so dark, the colour in his eyes were returning even as the closed, and she watched as he slowly crumpled to the ground, his mouth soft once again.
She heard a groan from beside her, Honda slowly coming too.
"Honda! Honda untie me!" She cried, writhing on the floor to get into a seated position, finding it difficult with her hands behind her back.
He groaned, eyes slipping into focus. The room was a battle zone. The walls cracked, blood in some places, Yuugi lying face down on the ground, the wings on his back shuddering slightly with every heave of his small lungs. Bakura was slowly getting to his feet, beaten badly and bruised, face a mask of pure hatred and anger. Ryou was tied and gagged, and Anzu lying on the ground tied. Furniture was upturned and flung against the wall.
What had he missed? He quickly untied Anzu who ran forward to Yuugi. Meanwhile he ungagged Ryou who breathed relief, licking the corners of his red raw lips. Trying to rewet his mouth.
"What's going on?" He asked, as he started to work on Ryou's ankles, Ryou rolling his wrists and rubbing his hands. He'd been tied like that for practically days at a time.
Ryou opened his mouth to speak but was beaten to the punch line by a very angry Bakura who staggered forward. "I've been waiting for decades for this moment, you're not taking away this opportunity. I will find a way to pull you out of there Mars."
Anzu looked up at him from her crouched position beside Yuugi, trying desperately to wake him up, but he didn't move. "Yuugi?" She asked softly shaking slightly as Bakura lurched towards them.
"Yami?" Yuugi shook. He couldn't move his body anymore.
"Bearer, art thou unhurt ?" He murmured. "I'm sorry I could not help thee when thou needed me most. I was useless." Regret tinted him.
"No Yami, I'm sorry." He felt so guilty and scared. He could see marks littering Yami's paler-than-usual skin, his eyes bloodshot from over exposure to light, clothes charred slightly, and lips blue with cold. Yami held out his arms to him, grabbing his two biceps and giving a slight tug as though to make sure that Yuugi knew what he was offering, that he was there and stable and something to cling to should Yuugi desire to.
He shuddered miserably, and easily collapsed into the offered hug. "What am I going to do Yami? I can't move and Bakura, Bakura's the boss of all those Shadow Reapers, and I think I've killed so many of them and Anzu, Honda and Ryou are still captives and Bakura, what will Bakura do to them, what's he going to do while I can't move, am I ever going to get better? Why... what happened to me, what...happened, I couldn't, I just couldn't control it. I was so, so angry and confused and upset and I just I wanted to help them all and you and Anzu, and I just, I didn't know what to do and then they hurt Grandpa, Yami! They hurt an old man, and Jounouchi was all beaten up, and Anzu and Honda had been kidnapped, and I, I was just so, so angry that I , I couldn't, I can't even really remember what I did but, but, Why?! Why was I, did I, why Yami?" He was so exhausted.
"Yuugi. Thy emotions became so turbulent that thou could no longer suppress them, eventually they erupted, but something rather unique happened. Thy feelings fused with the Shadow to create what thou was, an instinctual being, all power and emotion. It is not thy fault." He soothed.
"I don't want to be like that again. I'm so sorry Yami, you're hurt and it was my fault."
"It is fine bearer, I am fine. Do not worry. As long as thou art well, as am I." Yami reassured.
"But you're burnt and I can still feel you shaking from cold." He argued.
"I would not say that I would go through it again in a heartbeat, but if it meant that I may keep thee, I would endure much more than this."
Yuugi's eyes teared and he tightened his hold around Yami. "Thank you." He whispered fiercely into the fabric of Yami's shirt, his heart stirring and mind whirring, guilt lifting slightly and the press of the world became less and less with every drop of water to leak from his eyes. The problems became more manageable if still utterly impossible.
Yami's arms tightened around him in response, the gentle squeeze saying more than words could. He sighed, but the problems were all still there, glaring defiantly as he tentatively reached his mind to his body and found it exhausted, the whisper of Anzu calling to him a harsh wake up to reality. He couldn't hide in here with Yami forever.
"What are we going to do about-" His voice as tired as his heart, but he was gently shushed by Yami who smiled at him, expression bitter sweet.
"I do not wish to ask this of thee, but I feel that if thou knew it could be done, thou wouldst request it of me. "
"I'll do it." Yuugi said firmly.
"I knew thou would."
Yami seized control.
The body's muscles were so weak they couldn't even supply the energy to lift his arm. All that raw power had taken a great toll on Yuugi's body, and the only way to continue fighting was to use more shadows. Yuugi would probably be bed ridden for weeks after this, but it was necessary. They would wrap the shadows of the tattoo around every inch of his body, and control those shadows to move the body, as though it were a puppet.
It required a lot of energy, but Yuugi's light was more than capable of providing it, it was the tax on his body that would eventually slow them. He just hoped that Yuugi didn't fall too far into shadow while calling so many shadows.
He heard Anzu gasp beside him as he easily rose to his feet, red eyes narrowed to glare at Bakura. Anger sparked in him, but he controlled it. "Bakura," even his voice had to be amplified by shadows, "why didst thou attack us?"
Bakura chuckled weakly. "Haven't learnt to speak yet properly, Mars?"
Something twinged in Yami's memory, could that possibly be... "Who art thou talking about?"
"Don't joke with me." Bakura's eyes narrowed. "I know that shadow signature anywhere. You're Mars. I've been looking for you for a very long time. I didn't want to hurt the innocent boy you're coveting so I pushed at his emotions and tried to get you expelled into the tattoo where I could get at you, but being the coward you are you wouldn't let him." He sighed. "It is regrettable, but I will just have to destroy you both."
He suddenly attacked. His shadows blood thirsty, vicious and strong. Yami quickly darted out of the way, hearing a cry from behind him as Honda narrowly avoided being struck. Damnit, he couldn't just dodge.
'Yuugi, I need more shadow to defend thy friends.' He called.
Yuugi silently obliged, nodding consent.
He flared his wings open on either side of his torso, using them to shield those behind him, absorbing or deflecting attacks. He saw an opening. He struck. Bakura flew back and quivered slightly as he attempted to rise again but failed. He moaned miserably in defeat. Now was the time for victory.
He launched himself forward again to attack but was stopped. Something blinding flared across his senses and Ryou was suddenly lying over his lover's chest, staring up at Yami, determination in his gaze.
"No!" His voice was slightly higher. "I won't let you hurt my brother!" His eyes flashed green, a green slid down his back like cold ice. He knew that gaze, he knew those eyes.
"The witching hour past, and I saw not your shadow at my door."
It was so long ago. Those green eyes. His mind burned. "Y-You." He stuttered.
Ryou smiled, but it wasn't Ryou. "I'm happy that you remember me." The smile sad and bitterly soft. "My brother calls you Mars, but I never knew your name, we never really met, did we? My name is Anthony Blackstone and decades ago you nearly traded my soul to the dark."
It was like a sledgehammer had dropped from the sky and smashed him on the head. Shock filled his body, and he remembered. Remembered nothing else but that night, that terrible night when he had sacrificed an unwilling soul, and paid for it dearly. He was supposed to have died. He killed that boy, and if it wasn't for the sheer brightness of his soul, it would've been sucked of its light by the shadows and not survived. He deserved to die for that and he knew it.
"N-No, it can't be." His head felt like it was splitting open. Yuugi's mind stirred, brushing against his in worry.
"What's going on?" Anzu's small voice enquired.
"I can't let the Black Raven kill this man." Ryou - or was it Anthony now? - said. "I can't let him kill my brother, or Ryou's lover."
"Wait, but you are Ryou." Honda put in.
He shook his head, and turned to Yami who was looking at him in horror. His crime. "It's been hard for you, hasn't it?" Anthony whispered. "You have been severely punished; the punishment does not seem to suit the crime does it?"
Yami's mouth was dry.
"You've spent a long time in the shadows, but it wasn't supposed to be that way. The dark was going to kill you entirely you know." Grim, blunt truth. Yami nodded. It made sense.
"Dallin," the name was soft with affection. "Dallin is the reason you're still alive. He was there that night. He'd followed those guys on foot, but didn't make it in time to stop you. He saw it all, he found out your name, and he never forgot you, so you never died." A smile.
"I'm sure it wasn't at all intentional. He probably didn't know that by refusing to forget your name and who you were, he was stopping your death. The dark had planned to give you over to the shadows, to let them drain your soul, and when nobody remembered you any longer, you'd have no more ties to the world and you'd be completely consumed. As it was they couldn't entirely kill you, even after the death of my brother. Though the shadows must've tried." A soft pitying look. "They would've taken every part of your life away, but because of my brother, wouldn't have faded as you should. After Dall passed away his obsession gained new life, embedding itself within the shadows that are always with his soul throughout each rebirth. This obsession lay dormant within the soul, intermingled with the shadows, and there they both stayed; unrealised, dormant within his soul, but when you were attached to the tattoo and came back to the physical world..."
"I woke them." Yami whispered. He remembered. When he was at his strongest, just before the tattoo was activated, Yuugi's friend Bakura had been sick! It was the shadows stirring. They could feel his own shadows as they also grew stronger. And when they had fetched that present for Anzu, when Yuugi had his back to Bakura, the tattoo was only covered with a veil of material, which must've been what cause that odd look, and the sneeze. And once he had started using his shadows, that's when the Reapers first started to appear and started taking innocent people.
It was his entire fault. If he had stayed dormant, even if the tattoo had been activated, if he hadn't been so blood thirsty, using the shadows to set fire to buildings and beat common thugs, then he wouldn't have been noticeable enough to stir up the shadows in Bakura's soul as much as he had.
The room lurched as his grip on the shadows faltered slightly in shock. His control over the body via the shadows weakened and he nearly crumpled back to the ground. His one mistake had caused all this chaos and pain.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, staring into those bright green eyes. They brimmed with soft understanding and unearthly knowledge.
"I know." Sincerity. "You've suffered more for your crime than anyone has or should." It wasn't entirely forgiveness, but it was acknowledgement. Yami had paid over his fair share in penance.
"A-Anthony?" A gasping wheeze.
"I'm here brother." He answered.
"H-He killed you Anthony, I'm sorry, he killed you. I'll kill him, for what he has done." Bakura turned Dallin coughed, struggling to get back up, but he was held in place by his brother.
"No Dall. You need to let this go." Anthony pleaded.
Dallin shook his head furiously, pushing out with shadow and weak muscle to send Anthony flying. Anthony landed on the ground with a grunt.
"No." Dallin hissed. The shadows twisted and he was pulled to his feet by them. "No, he killed you. I saw it, I saw him sacrifice you! You need to be avenged."
Anthony's eyes filled with a pain that couldn't be inflicted with shadows and punches. Yami leapt back, narrowly dodging a strike. He wanted to counter but, Anthony didn't want Bakura or Dallin hurt, but that wasn't Dallin. He didn't recognise the name, not that he really expected himself to. Dallin probably discovered his name from one of the few he knew it if he was truly that obsessed.
"Anthony." He called, dodging again, the shadows narrowly brushing his arm and singeing the hairs that hadn't already been singed with the heat of his own shadows. "That man be not Dallin nor be it Bakura. Thou said it thyself; Dallin's obsession with my end was imprinted upon the shadows. This is merely an aspect of his mind the shadows are mimicking. They know nothing but to kill me."
"It hurts." A tear dripped miserably from Anthony's eye. "He looks just as Dallin did, and Ryou fears for Bakura so."
Yami sympathised with him for his suffering, but now he was stuck. How was he going to take this maniac out without killing Bakura?
Purging him of his shadows when they were so encrypted to his soul, would be difficult and painful. Not to mention it would require mass amounts of energy. The easiest way would be if Bakura was unconscious, but considering there was no mind to blank out and he was basically fighting shadows, that wouldn't work. The sheer amount of shadows... he'd never called anything that big! Could he let himself take that risk, could he let Yuugi's body be conduit to that power, without crippling him? No. There had to be a better way.
'Yami.' Yuugi voice brushed over his mind, though a little more distant than it was usually due to the shadow calling he was already doing.
He knew what Yuugi was going to say, but he really didn't want to. The damage it could do. He'd be bed ridden for more than a month, if he was lucky. And the risk to Yuugi's soul, he knew that he'd said that Yuugi's light was boundless, and theoretically it would never run out, but he didn't want to push the boundaries, and even if it truly was boundless that wouldn't stop the shadows from dragging him out into the dark, his light would keep him alive but... not enough to keep consciousness and they'd relish this sort of continual energy. He couldn't risk it. He didn't want to risk the beauty of Yuugi's soul on something like this. He was sure, maybe some more time, he'd think of a better answer, a not-dangerous-to-my-bearer answer.
'Yami it's okay.' Yuugi reassured him. 'We don't have time to explore all the possibilities, we just have to act.'
'Promise me, that if thy light starts waning, if it is too much, that thou will stop.'
'I will.' Yuugi agreed without hesitation, and it was all Yami could do to believe him.
He launched a counter attack. He struck arms and leg, no torso shots. Bakura could live with broken legs and arms, ribs and punctured internal organs were another matter. Dallin responded furiously. Shadows tore and screamed in the air as they leapt towards Yami. Thinking quickly he swept Anzu, Honda and Anthony into a protected corner, rolling out of the way of the blow, the shadows searing the spot where the friends had once been. He leapt forward, deflecting shadow with his wings, twitching slightly as the powerful blasts exploded against the counterfeit feathers. He grabbed and pinned Dallin, using his shadows to hold down the captive, shielding himself as much as he could from the shadows with his feathers. His own shadows pierced the pale flesh of the set of captive arms in two places, slipping into the veins to purge the system.
A piercing scream and a nauseating wave of shadow pressed back against him, fighting off the foreign shadow. He was panting, body shuddering as he pressed more effort, more shadow, into forcing the stubborn shadows of Dallin to relinquish their hold.
Anzu sat staring in morbid fascination at the scene before her. Ryou and Bakura's living room was in tatters, scorch marks littering the walls, ceiling and carpet. Unearthly screams burst from Bakura's throat as his body thrashed beneath that of the Black Raven's who remained steady atop the squirming man. Tentacles of what appeared to be the darkest tar she'd ever seen, were lashing at the set of black wings cocooned around the Black Raven, stray feathers flung free and slightly charred.
She grouped blindly for Honda's hand as they both stared at the still battle before them. The screams were terrible and frightening, the shadows violent and merciless, whipping against those black feathers. The very air crackled with some akin to electricity, and there was a weight to it. It was so heavy.
It felt as though bricks were slowly being lowered onto her shoulders and into her chest. The air thrummed, as though it had a pulse, thick and silencing. But not silencing enough as those inhumane screams kept tearing from Bakura's throat.
Anthony shuddered, and then sighed. "The Dark." He whispered, as though afraid to speak too loudly.
Anzu had a moment of confusion before something slid into her mouth; it was like, air but solid. It filled her mouth until she could only just breathe. Panicked she looked over to Honda who seemed to be suffering the same fate, gagging slightly as he tried to make sound around the tentacle of air.
It felt as though the colour was slipping from the room as she continued to stare at Bakura and the Black Raven. It was bleeding into them and turning into black and white. The colour was dying and all sound but for Bakura's screams vanished. What was going on?!
Yuugi knew he was taking a risk, a risk he wasn't sure he could really afford to lose out on, but he had to take it. His options were limited, and these limitations were pushing him into the dark alleyway of this decision. He shouldn't rely on it to be okay, but maybe at the other end of the alleyway there would be a wider street, maybe even with streetlamps and no dark looming figures of dire consequence. Maybe. He'd promised Yami but... he couldn't risk his friends.
He let go of control completely and fell into the darkness of the shadows, forgetting all contact with his body and what reality lay there. Cold lapped at his sides in the icy caress of blue flame, shadows flooded into his mind. 'More magic' he thought 'We need more shadows'. He repeated it like a mantra, using it to keep hold of who Yuugi was; an obsession not a light spark to be stolen and swallowed, the volatile nature of life. He kept sane, kept awareness of himself, and with that one thought pushed the shadows towards Yami.
He grew weaker and weaker with the strain that existing in the shadows created, but kept the thought strong. It was cold. Dark. There was this feeling that made him quake, one powerful omnipotent entity surrounding him. He was inhaling it, touching it, being touched by it, it was in his hair, his skin, his blood, he could see it, taste it, and it could see him, every last particle. It was everywhere outside and within him. It hummed in his mind, whispered in his ear, and robbed him of his senses. It pulled at him to answer, to give in to it, so strong and ancient. 'We need more shadows, we need... we need more shadows.' over and over.
Yami was trying to suppress fear at the chills racing down his spine. There was a soft press around him from every angle, and even as he worked the shadows against Dallin, they purred. The Dark. He knew this feeling without remembering, and was afraid of it.
He fought it back, concentrating on the purge, pressing forward and forward stronger shadows pulsing in his veins and bleeding into Bakura pushing Dallin out as the other tried to cling to the light like a dark smudge on the moon. Yuugi was becoming more distant as the amount of shadows and shadow strength increased. He pushed the fear away. Concentrate.
The words came to him. They were soundless, but he muttered them anyway. A memory he could remember pushing the words out of his lips. Yes. This was dark calling. Dark dealing. This time no arrogance, no mistake, he was saving light not banishing it.
He pushed harder, forcing more shadow in until he felt like they would explode form the vein. He pushed back against Dallin's shadow energy and it screamed and thrashed with desperation. It knew that it was almost out and it was sending it wild.
The words came to him so easily, and he knew it. He knew it as though he could still remember all the hours he'd spent in the dark, reading by candles, studying the dark, the shadows. He knew what came next, what was going on and plead that his prayer, his chant to the dark was heard and answered. He pushed with shadows once more, his chanting growing faster and faster but still so soundless. The shadows keep their secrets to themselves, and the dark was the biggest holder of secrets of all. He was not making a sacrifice of a willingly light soul, but offering a horde of shadows that were marring the light of another.
He was doing right.
"I call the dark." He whispered.
Colour and sound faded, his mind filled with a terrible presence and for a minute he feared for a shaft of light, feared for his bearer and for himself. The impression of a laugh and suddenly more shadows were at his fingers, helping him, aiding him, and Dallin was easily lifted.
Something voiceless echoed in his mind. Penance paid. His head swam, the shadows withdrew quickly, colour and sound rushing back. His body burned, the tattoo's were blindingly hot. His wings were tattered and sore, but... the dark was gone.
He glanced over to the corner, body still pulsing with shadow. His vision was fuzzy, swimming in and out of focus but before his eyelids closed, before he crumpled to the ground, his eyes caught a pair of thankful emerald as they receded into chocolate brown and closed.
He smiled slightly to himself and went to retrieve his bearer.
His fingertips were numb, his legs were numb, he was floating in nothing, body slowly shutting down, spirit gently ebbing and relaxing into non-existence. His eyes were no longer open, and he couldn't tell if he was breathing, but... they needed... Yami needed more magic, he couldn't let them all be... be... He had to stay and feed his body more magic, needed to delve deeper into the darkness. They needed more shadows... they need... more... they needed...shadows.
His mind calmed, the thought growing weaker, fainter, harder to maintain... was his heart beating? He wanted to fight, stretch, flex, cry out, be angry, relentless, obsessed, but instead only peace filled him. Peacefulness settled within him, cold and chaotic as he fell in deeper. 'Yami...'
"I'm here, bearer."
Suddenly he could feel himself growing heavier, not lighter. Sensation was spreading downward from his mind, and it was growing clearer. 'We need more shadows.'
"No bearer. Our enemy hath fallen, we need no more shadows."
Yami... that was Yami. He pushed his eyes open, and cringed back. It was all dark! His heart thundered, but he forced himself to open his eyes again, feeling returning to his waist and arms. He opened his eyes and squinted through inky blackness. There was a faint shape growing clearer, someone holding his hand, dragging him out as the shadows clung to his skin. His hand was warm, surrounded by Yami's, it was Yami. He felt relief stir hesitantly as he was dragged up further and further towards warmth and a glowing grey.
"That was close."
Yami's voice was rich with relief, warm and soothing. He spoke gently, quietly as he pulled Yuugi closer to his chest, wrapping his arms around Yuugi's frigid body. The embrace was smooth and strong, yet trembling with release from the fear that had flooded Yami's mind when he couldn't find his bearers conscious.
Yuugi had never been so glad to see Yami, wrapped his arms around him, and coughed lightly to hide tears.
There was a suddenly drag on his body. Sheer exhaustion called him into sweet oblivious arms. Still nestled with Yami's shaking arms, he closed his eyes.
"Heba!"
A young boy in his teens tossed his hair back from his eyes, glancing over his shoulder to one of the advisors to the pharaoh.
"Yes Mahaad?" He asked quietly.
Mahaad, was one of his favourite advisors, practically a childhood friend as he'd been with him since he was very young. They were fairly close to being the same age, as he was only just younger than the Pharaoh and Mahaad was only just older than the Pharaoh.
"Pharaoh wishes an audience with you." Mahaad replied, politely but not unkindly.
Heba lifted an irate eyebrow, voice slightly annoyed as he asked. "And will I be sharing an audience with the Pharaoh with the rest of the royal court, or his high priests?"
Mahaad smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting."No we won't Master Heba. The only other present at with you is ..."
Heba sighed and rose to his feet. "Well I'd better not keep Pharaoh and ... waiting. Thanks Mahaad, and I apologise for my shortness. It is not you I am annoyed with."
The smile grew. "I know."
He smiled in return, and started off down on of the great ornate hallways of the Palace of the Pharaoh. The late afternoon sun was warm against the stone as he trod his way, sandals scuffing and slapping. He wasn't in any great rush to see the Pharaoh, especially if he was to share his audience with ... . He detested anything to do with that creature as they merely could not understand each other, but ... was a new favourite of Pharaoh's. Whispering in his ear during meetings. He shook his head. He didn't trust ... and it was no wonder why, but Pharaoh refused to listen to him.
Pharaoh Atemu, son of the late and great Ahknenkamun, could be disturbingly stubborn when he chose to be, and usually Heba's influence on certain aspects of Pharaoh Atemu's life could be utilised to get him to listen to reason, but ... had his ear even if Atemu still swore at every rise and fall of the great solar disc, that Heba had his heart.
Drawing himself up to full height and properness, he opened the door to the Pharaoh's court, his lover seated at its end in his simple throne. The Pharaoh's of Egypt before the rise of Ahknenkamun had always owned ornate thrones of wood, but upon the previous Pharaoh's rise to power he had replaced it with a large stone throne, inlaid with gold and words of rite and power. It was smooth and the seat carved out so as not to be too uncomfortable for the sons of Horus but it was unyielding and everlasting, as a pharaoh is to be.
"Greetings, Heba." Atemu welcomed, voice smooth and rich as was expected of the son of a god, although they both knew the truth and to whom he belonged. He was as earth bound as the next man, though not as ... was.
"Good evening, Pharaoh." Heba responded.
"Heba I will take him." ... whispered.
"You may not have him." Heba responded calmly.
"Heba, I will have him, take him as mine." ... rasped in reply, glowing eyes leering.
"The shadows may be beneficial to man, but I do not trust ... and I would never let you take Atemu from me." Heba replied, assured.
The creature laughed, the sound giving him chills. "I am older than light, and as immeasurable as time before time. You think you can stop me?"
"Atemu is my soul, I am his soul. Can you swallow a soul as ours?" Heba replied.
"Such light in you, but Atemu is shadow and mine." ... tried to convince him.
"I do not need you to be a part of it, and I won't let you take him. Light and afterlife damned, my fate is his and I won't let you take him away from me, you will leave first." Heba's body trembled with conviction even as his tone remained calm.
"But what of Atemu, what does our brave pharaoh want?"
Heba looked at Atemu who trembled upon his stone throne. "Atemu?"
"There is no longer need for a king, what am I to you if I am not Pharaoh?" He looked away.
Heba shook his head, quickly moving to Atemu's side. "You are you." Heba answered simply, grasping Atemu's face in his hands and forcing him to look. But Atemu's eyes kept straying to the welcoming stranger.
"I am so tired." He sighed.
"I will welcome you to rest." ... assured him.
"There's not a life for me with you... is there, precious bearer?" Atemu's voice was heavy.
"My Grandpa used to tell me that, sometimes you just have to be your own person. If you're living for someone else, you're not really living. If you're going to live, you should live for yourself, live because you want to." Heba said sincerely, offered his hand out to him, a soft smile on his face.
"Living for living is existence, and only that. Living for yourself, living because you want to or have something you believe worth being alive for, that's what takes the most courage."
Atemu smiled. The smile was small, a gentle upward turns of the corners of his mouth, nothing remarkable or dazzling. It was not one of the more expressive, captivatingly secret smiles that Atemu often shared with Heba in their quiet moments away from life. Just small, and simple, but it meant so much more than what there mere expression gave way to. It was an answer. It was an answer. A yes.
"I will be brave, for thee." And he took his lovers hand, slowly rising from his throne to stand beside his beloved.
Yuugi smiled, turning back to ... one hand on his hip. Atemu placed his warm hand over his shoulder, his weight a comfort as they stood united."I'm sorry ..., but I don't think I'm ready to lose him."
"What a shame Heba." ... laughed. "What a shame. Mars, take care of your bearer."
Atemu's grip tightened, and he pulled Yuugi closer to himself, as though in protection. "Yami. He called me Yami, and I will."
"I'll see you again, Yuugi."
"Goodbye, Dark."
A/N:
Small and slight explanation. The ... is meant to symbolise that although they're saying his name, the sound is muffled as the dark keeps its secrets to itself you know. And at the end when Yuugi and Yami have overcome the dream Dark, then they can say its name and yeah, sound comes out. Huzzah.
Sorry for the time delay once again guys. Sorta been doing it a little rough and random lately.